Eating disorders (ED) are common and complex mental health conditions. Recovery from an eating disorder can be even more complex, but it’s not impossible.
Eating disorders are one of the deadliest mental illnesses, so if you or someone you love wants to recover from an ED, it’s important to get help. Understanding what an eating disorder is, the types of EDs, and treatment options can make it easier to navigate the recovery process.
Types of Eating Disorders
While the media often presents eating disorders as a condition that only impacts white, adolescent girls, that isn’t true. EDs impact people from a variety of backgrounds. In fact, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorders says, “eating disorders affect people of every age, race, size, gender identity, sexual orientation and background.”
Just as EDs can impact people from diverse backgrounds, eating disorders can look different from person to person. You might be wondering what an eating disorder is.
Simply put, eating disorders are conditions that cause significant disturbances to someone’s eating behavior. Two more common EDs include anorexia and bulimia, but there are even more types of Eds than just those two. These behaviors also lead to really upsetting eating disorder thoughts and feelings that can feel all consuming. These distressing thoughts and feelings are severe enough to impact daily life and may center around body shape, size, and weight.
Although there are many different types of EDs beyond the most well known disorders (there’s seven!) and even more ED behaviors, there are three that commonly known: binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.
Binge eating disorder is an ED characterized by binge eating. Binging is when someone eats a large amount of food in a short period of time. Binging is accompanied by feeling out of control.
Bulimia is when someone engages in patterns of binge eating, followed by exercising, fasting, purging, or laxative use to compensate for the binge.
Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by a severe fear of gaining weight. As a result, someone with anorexia will severely restrict their food intake in order to lose weight. People with anorexia may also purge, compulsively exercise, abuse laxatives, or fast in order to lose weight.
What Types of Eating Disorder Treatment Option Exist?
There are many different types of eating disorder treatment options. Treatment and support options include:
Inpatient hospitalization
Depending on severity, some people with eating disorders may need to be hospitalized. Inpatient treatment is sometimes necessary for medical stabilization due to the impact that eating disorder behaviors can have on your body.
Residential treatment
Residential treatment facilities are similar to rehabs. At the residential level of care, you receive 24/7 care. Care in a residential facility often includes eating disorder support groups, individual therapy, family or couples therapy.
Partial hospitalization (PHP) or intensive outpatient programs (IOP)
While partial hospitalization (PHP) sounds like it takes place in a hospital, it doesn’t. PHP and IOP programs are intensive day programs that tend to provide three to seven hours of care per day, three to seven days per week.
Outpatient Treatment
The outpatient level of care is when you see a doctor, therapist, or registered dietitian one to two times per week to support you in the recovery process.
Across all levels of care, there tend to be common services provided in order to support you in your recovery. These can include:
Coping skills groups
Developing coping mechanisms is an important part of the recovery process. Figuring out ways to cope with difficult feelings can help you cope with eating disorder urges, thoughts, and behaviors. Treatment centers tend to use dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help their clients develop a range of coping skills.
Group therapy
Group therapy gives you an opportunity to learn skills, improve body image, explore emotions, and give and receive feedback from peers. Treatment centers also tend to offer support groups for family and friends, so they can best support you during your recovery.
Nutritional counseling
While eating disorders are a mental health condition, they center around food. Getting support from a registered dietitian (RD) can help you meet your nutritional goals, gain evidence-based information about nutrition, and change disordered beliefs about food and eating. An RD tends to provide meal planning, so you have a guide on how much and how often to eat in order to reestablish healthy eating habits.
The Intersection of Eating Disorders and Mental Health
It is common for people with eating disorders to also struggle with other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or trauma. During therapy for an eating disorder, your therapist may help you tease apart the eating disorder thoughts and feelings and symptoms stemming from another condition.
If you have more than one mental health condition at a time, it’s referred to as a co-occurring condition. Some people use eating disorder behaviors as a way to cope with the unwanted symptoms that stem from another mental health condition. For example, someone with anxiety or trauma may cope with their anxious feelings by binge eating.
Treating any co-occurring conditions is an important part of the recovery process. In the beginning, your therapist or treatment team may focus on reducing your eating disorder behaviors in order to make sure you are medically stable.
From there, your therapist may also focus on helping you cope with other mental health symptoms. Getting relief from other conditions can help prevent relapse if you were attempting to cope with anxiety, depression, trauma, or other mental health conditions with disordered eating.
Tips for Navigating Recovery from an Eating Disorder
While recovery can be difficult, it is possible. Here are three tips for navigating eating disorder recovery:
Give yourself time
Recovery is not a quick process for most people. It’s okay to take the time and space to recover. Healing your relationship to food and your body is an investment in your health, well-being, and future. These types of things are deserving of your time and don’t forget to practice self care and self compassion during this time.
Ask others for help
While it can feel less vulnerable to involve other people in your recovery journey, we all need people sometimes. Support from family and friends can make a big difference, especially on the difficult days. It can also be helpful to seek advice and guidance from others who have recovered from an eating disorder.
Find a qualified therapist or treatment program
It’s more than okay to ask treatment providers about their experience treating EDs. Some green flags are providers who practice The All Foods Fit and Health at Every Size model.
Everyone deserves to have a peaceful and healthy relationship with food and their body. While it may be a difficult to achieve, it is possible.
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